Lyricist and singer Swanand Kirkire had joined a chorus of voices criticising Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s latest film Animal for its alleged sexist and violent themes. In a long thread on Twitter, Kirkire had criticised the film for its misogyny and the audience for applauding scenes of Rashmika Mandana getting slapped. Now, the film’s official Twitter account has courted controversy by attacking Kirkire, leading to Vanga himself getting trolled on Twitter.
On Wednesday, Animal’s account on Twitter (now called X) shared a news clip of Kirkire’s criticism of the film. Along with it was a snarky, sarcastic caption that read: “Do not let your knees fall ahead of your toes or cave in towards each other. Keep feet shoulder-width apart to maintain a good base of support for balance. Land softly on the balls of the feet to help absorb the force of the landing. Yes.... now it landed perfectly.” The account concluded the tweet with a kissing emoji.
The responses to the tweet were divided. Some laughed at what they felt was a ‘befitting reply’ to the criticicism while others felt it was immature and needlessly ‘provocative’. Many Twitter users joked that it seemed director Sandeep Reddy Vanga had posted the text himself in response to Kirkire. One user tweeted, “Animal is doing blockbuster business, yet Vanga getting triggered over the slightest of criticism after the preaching of "alpha beta gamma". Such a snowflake.” Another added, “For all the alpha male talk... This is the biggest crybaby behaviour lmao.” One tweet red, “Alphas don't get triggered this easily.”
On Sunday, Kirkire had tweeted, “Today after watching the movie Animal, I really felt pity for the women of today's generation. Now, a new man has been prepared for you, who is more scary, who does not respect you that much and who aims to subdue you, suppress you and feels proud of himself. When you, the girls of today's generation, were sitting in that cinema hall and applauding Rashmika getting beaten, I in my mind paid homage to every idea of equality. I have come home desperate, dejected and weak!"
Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, stars Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor, and Bobby Deol. The film was released in theatres on December 1 and has already grossed close to Rs 500 crore worldwide.
